"Hyuga Kazeka, don't! I just wanted to get stronger. I don't want to die!"
"I never said I'd kill you."
"We're not talking about the same thing at all!
"If I'm going to turn into a monster, I'd rather die...
"I really don't want this! Aaaaaah!!!"
The damp underground Laboratory reeked of mildew and cold metal. Paint peeled from the mottled walls, exposing the concrete beneath.
The Laboratory was pitch-black, lit only by the faint glow of an old operating table and recording equipment along the wall.
With the sinister smile on the boy's face, this looked exactly like a deranged experimenter conducting a horrifying human experiment on his victim!
The boy named Kazeka was thoroughly engrossed. Ignoring the hapless victim writhing beneath him, he gripped a scalpel and was about to cut into a vital spot when, just then...
BOOM!
A deafening crash rang out as the rusted door was smashed open.
Two shinobi wearing Konoha Forehead Protectors charged into the room.
When they saw what was inside, their faces changed dramatically.
They both pointed their Kunai at Hyuga Kazeka.
"Hyuga Kazeka!"
Iruka, who was leading the pair, saw Kazeka looking utterly unbothered—in fact, annoyed at being interrupted—and spoke tensely:
"Let Goto go at once! Don't make me use force!"
"Tch. You managed to break through my improved Sealing Jutsu in such a short time. You're not bad!"
Kazeka looked at Iruka and his companion with a dangerous gaze.
"But do you think that means I'm helpless against you?
"What kind of real scientist would start an experiment without taking precautions?"
"Precautions? Oh no!"
Grrrr!
A low growl sounded, and more than a dozen pale, person-length claws rose from the floor beneath Iruka and his companion.
The claws lunged at the two of them, pinning them in place.
Ignoring Iruka as he struggled against the claws, Kazeka turned back to the hapless victim on the operating table.
His smile grew even more terrifying.
"Damn it, Goto. You were the one who said you wanted to get stronger. You begged and pleaded with me for three whole days.
"Now that you've got me interested, you're having second thoughts? Where's the fun in that?"
"I wanted to get stronger, but this method of getting stronger isn't what I had in mind..."
Goto cried out in despair:
"This is completely different!"
"Enough talk!"
Kazeka raised a lump of flesh in his hand. On closer inspection, a blurry infant's face could be seen floating on its surface.
As Kazeka absentmindedly swung it around, it continued to twitch and wail.
At the thought of that thing replacing him, Goto's eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot!
"He actually passed out? Fine by me. That saves me the trouble of anesthetizing him..."
Kazeka took out surgical scissors and trimmed some tendrils from the end of the flesh.
Just then, Mizuki, standing beside Iruka, finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"Kazeka, stop! There are shinobi all over the place!
"We came here to stop you on the Third Hokage's orders. He knows everything that's happened and is waiting for you to see him!"
"Tch. What a pain, that old man!"
Goto's experiment wasn't all that fascinating to Kazeka, but having it interrupted still irritated him.
What he found even more unbearable, though, was the Hokage's nagging.
He tossed the flesh aside and put on a hat shaped like an Egyptian pharaoh's headdress.
Then, with a disgruntled look, he followed Iruka and the others toward the Hokage's office.
Hyuga Kazeka was just an ordinary transmigrator who'd gotten incredibly lucky.
But unlike everyone else, the moment he transmigrated into the Naruto world, into the body of a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, Orochimaru captured him and subjected him to experiments!
As luck would have it, Orochimaru's project at the time was:
Extracting scientific knowledge from the minds of other shinobi, then pouring it all into the mind of a Hyuga Clan member with the Byakugan.
The end result was a puppet assistant who'd lost all human emotions, had excellent eyesight, and knew only how to conduct research obsessively!
Orochimaru's methods were infamous throughout the Shinobi World, so there was no need to elaborate on the suffering Kazeka endured.
Fortunately, at the end of the experiment, word got out that Orochimaru had been capturing shinobi from his own village for his research. The Third Hokage arrived in time and drove him away.
Kazeka managed to hold on to his sanity, though he was left with a minor side effect: he rather enjoyed dissecting, modifying, and experimenting on other shinobi!
Still, despite Kazeka's vile personality, he did possess considerable scientific talent.
So the Third Hokage decided that Kazeka would join the Technical Development Bureau.
On one hand, they couldn't afford to waste the knowledge in his head.
On the other, they hoped the people around him and the passage of time would gradually help Kazeka return to being a normal researcher.
"Kazeka, look at the mess you've made!"
A furious roar interrupted Kazeka's thoughts. In the office, Hiruzen Sarutobi slapped the desk, his eyes practically shooting flames.
"I admire your scientific skills, and I acknowledge your contributions to the village's technology. I've even given you plenty of extra resources...
"But that doesn't give you the right to do whatever you please!
"The Inuzuka Clan's Ninja Dogs have gone missing five times. Someone's knocked out members of the Akimichi Clan twice. You're constantly seen around the prison cells for serious offenders. And now Goto nearly got killed...
"All these incidents, one after another... You bastard, what exactly are you trying to do?!"
"I only went after them because they were wasting their talents. I couldn't help myself..."
Kazeka didn't change his expression. He paid no heed to the Third Hokage's fury.
"Besides, scientific progress requires materials. The pitiful little collection I have left is no longer useful for research.
"Goto came to me of his own accord. Of course I wasn't going to turn him away!"
"You... You..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at Kazeka and could only sputter. His expression was impossible to read.
As a researcher, Kazeka's contributions were undeniably enormous.
He was still young enough to be attending the Ninja Academy, yet the knowledge swirling around in his head had already helped the village make great advances in weapons, barrier Sealing Jutsu, and medical techniques.
Take the Soul Stimulant he'd developed, for example.
It could make a shinobi who'd lost his fighting spirit and suffered a mental breakdown unleash a powerful fighting force once more. Its effects were remarkable.
But as a person, Kazeka was a failure.
His indifferent attitude toward everything, and his vile habit of using shinobi and people around him as test subjects, made him impossible to like—and even easy to hate.
He was, without a doubt, someone people both loved and loathed!
"Enough. You'd better watch yourself. And especially as far as Goto's concerned, you're not to bother him again!"
"You're sure?"
Seeing that the Third Hokage had made up his mind, Kazeka didn't choose to defy him outright.
Instead, he walked to the window and looked strangely at the group of shinobi preparing to escort Goto inside.
"You should know, I've already performed half the operation on Goto. If you're asking me to stop now..."
A deafening crash rang out. Suddenly, a skinless, infant-shaped monster made of flesh burst out of Goto's crotch.
It swung its arms wildly, smashing everything around it!
"Do you really think that's a good idea?"
Before you continue